The GP-25 ''Kostyor'' ("Bonfire"), GP-30 ''Obuvka'' ("Footwear") and GP-34 are a family of Russian 40 mm under-barrel

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mos ...

s (''Granatomyot Podstvolnyj'') for the AK family of assault rifles. They were first seen by the West in 1984 during the

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The GP-30 was lightened and the redesigned sighting system was moved to the right. The current Izhmash-made version, the GP-34, has an again redesigned sighting system on the right and features the following advantages: * Reliability: It is designed and tested specifically for the Kalashnikov assault rifles, fits such assault rifles directly without any adaptors or forearm dismantling. * Improved safety: The design prevents a round from moving within or falling out of the barrel, even if the muzzle is pointed down. The GP-34 features an additional mechanism (firing pin safety lever) to improve safety during loading.

Development

Development of a grenade launcher for the AKM assault rifle began in 1966 at the Sporting and Hunting Arms Central Design and Research Bureau. Development continued into the 1970s, and in 1978 it was accepted into service. The GP-30 first entered service in 1989, and is intended for use with the AK-100 series of assault rifles. The GP-34 is designed to be a universal service model that can be fitted to the AKM / AKMS, AK-74 / AKs-74, AK-74M, AK-101, AK-103, and

AN-94 The AN-94 (Russian: 5,45-мм автомат Никонова обр. 1987 г. / АН-94 «Абака́н», GRAU designation 6P33) is a Russian assault rifle. The initials stand for ''Avtomat Nikonova'' model of 1994, after its chief designer ...

rifles.

Description

The

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

launchers are similar in appearance and fire the same 40 mm caliber ammunition and use the same High-Low System developed by Germany in late World War II to keep recoil forces low without a rocket or other type of recoilless weapon back blast. The GP-30(M) is a stripped-down model grenade launcher, consisting of a very short, 40 mm

rifled In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the proj ...

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

in front of a basic trigger mechanism with minimal hand grip. On top of the barrel is mounting gear to attach the weapon under the barrel of an AK-series assault rifle, from where it is designed to be fired. A grenade is first muzzle loaded into the barrel, the weapon is aimed, then the self-cocking trigger is pulled to fire the weapon. This fires the percussion cap at the base of the grenade which triggers the nitrocellulose

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...

inside the body of the grenade. The hot expanding gas from the propellant is forced through vents in the base of the grenade that move the grenade along the barrel, and at the same time force the driving band to engage with the twelve rifling grooves. The rifling imparts stabilizing spin to the projectile. The barrel has a service life of about 400 rounds.

Ammunition

The grenade launchers fire a series of special 40 mm grenades. Originally, the main grenade was the VOG-15 (7P17) fragmentation grenade. This was superseded by the steel-cased VOG-25 fragmentation grenade. The VOG-25 has a lethal radius of six meters. Rounds for the muzzle-loaded GP-25 consist of a single piece containing both propellant and warhead, unlike the more traditional two piece casing-and-projectile design of the comparable American

40x46mm 40 mm grenade (also styled 40mm grenade) is a generic class-name for grenade launcher ammunition ( subsonic shells) in caliber. The generic name stems from the fact that several countries have developed or adopted grenade launchers in ...

round used in breech-loaded grenade launchers, such as the M203. A bouncing grenade, the VOG-25P, is also available. On impact, a small charge in the nose of the grenade is detonated; this raises the grenade 0.5 to 1.5 m in the air, before an impact delay fuse detonates it. The VOG-25P also has a lethal radius of six meters. New generation rounds VOG-M and VOG-PM with an increased effectiveness not less than 1.5 times are now serially available. Smoke grenades are also available. The original GRD-40 grenade has been replaced by a series of grenades designed for use at different ranges. These are the GRD-50, GRD-100 and GRD-200 for use at 50, 100 and 200 meters respectively. They are capable of producing a 20 cubic meter cloud of smoke that lasts for one minute in winds of up to five meters per second. A CS gas grenade called the ''Gvozd'' ("Nail") and a baton grenade are also available.

Grenades

* Fuse arming range: 10–40 m (33–130 ft) * Fuse self-destruction time: 14–19 s * VOG-25 specifications: ** Weight: 250 g (0.55 lb) ** Warhead: 48 g of A-IX-1 explosive. * VOG-25P specifications: ** Weight: 278 g (0.61 lb) ** Warhead: 37 g of TNT. * GRD-50/100/200 specifications ** Weight: 265 g ** Warhead: 90 g

Variants

* GP-25 Kostyor * GP-30 Obuvka * GP-34

Users

* * * * : Used by Caatinga infantry * : Made under license by Arsenal AD as the UBGL and the UBGL-1. * * * * : Made by STC Delta. * : Used for the AK-74M. * * : Mobile Brigade Corps * : Used by IRGC * : Lithuanian Armed Forces * Jones, Richard D. ''Jane's Infantry Weapons 2009/2010''. Jane's Information Group; 35 edition (January 27, 2009). . * * * : Made under license by Zastava Arms as the PBG – 40 mm and the PBG 40 mm M70. * * : Uses both GP-25s and GP-30Ms. * *

References

External links

Modern Firearms

Technical data, instructional images and diagrams of the GP-25

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gp-25 Grenade launchers of the Soviet Union Grenade launchers of Russia Cold War weapons of the Soviet Union Kalashnikov Concern products TsKIB SOO products Caseless firearms Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1978